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Princeton Valedictorian Nicholas Johnson 2015 congratulates grads from Princeton and Selwyn House

The valedictorian speech Nicholas Johnston 2015 delivered at the virtual graduation ceremony of Princeton University on May 31 was built on a theme of building.
 
Speaking from his home in Montreal, Nicholas recalled his freshman summer trip to Peru, where he helped construct a water distribution system for 100 families who had no source of clean water. After having dug trenches, laid pipe and built concrete structures, he felt “pride, happiness and amazement” as he watched water flow tens of kilometres from the mountains to houses below.
 
“At that moment, I embraced building as a vehicle of progress and a bridge to a better future,” he said, “I believe that building is the best way to create and deliver value to the world.”
 
This fall, he will embark on a Ph.D. program in Operations Research at MIT, developing theory to unify optimization and machine learning.
 
In addition to building tangible objects, he said, “we have built communities, relationships, traditions, innovative algorithms and lasting memories.”
 
Identifying what needs to be built is inherently harder and arguably of greater importance than specifying how something might be built, he said.
 
He quoted Former First Lady Michelle Obama (Princeton Class of ’85) as saying that it is possible to “live on two planes at once, with one’s feet planted in reality but pointed in the direction of progress. You can live in the world as it is, but you can still work to create the world as it should be.”
 
Nicholas expressed sympathy for victims of COVID-19, a disease that, he said, “is not going to disappear quickly and will likely give rise to a new normal.”
 
But, he added, “Today marks a new beginning,” one that has “forced us to re-evaluate our structures and functions within society.”
 
He exhorted his fellow students to “Fight passionately to ensure that this stressful period of sacrifice will be remembered as a moment in history when diversity of thought, creativity, passion and bravery conquered fear of a common threat to humankind.”
 
“With perseverance,” he said, “we will overcome.”
 
The news that Nicholas is the first black person to be named valedictorian at Princeton in the school’s 274-year history has created a flurry of media attention since it was announced on April 27. Prominent members of the US black community such as Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris and Corey Booker were quick to publicly congratulate him, and media outlets all across North America have been seeking Nicholas out for an interview or comment.
 
On the day of his Princeton speech, Nicholas took the time to send a message of congratulation to the Class of 2020 at his alma mater, Selwyn House School.
 
“Congratulations to each and every one of you in the Class of 2020,” he wrote.
 
“As you move on to CEGEP, prep school or some other adventure, always know that you have a whole community of Selwyn Old Boys, family and friends cheering you on every step of the way.”
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